Church Commissioners

Church of England: Land Use

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether a recent assessment has been made of the environmental improvements being advanced through the church's holding of agricultural land.

Andrew Selous: The Church Commissioners undertake rolling assessments of environmental improvements being made to the farmland portfolio by tenants, which is used to update the baseline study undertaken five years ago. Data has so far been provided on over 25,000 acres of Commissioners’ land holdings and contains details of environmental changes, such as transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices. The Commissioners are pleased to announce a partnership with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), which will further develop this work.The Church Commissioners’ rural estates team continues to engage with our new and existing agricultural tenants through regular individual farm visits, the sharing of ground-sourced data, including carbon audits, and the gathering of information from third parties. On recent assessment revealed that on a single Commissioners’ farm in Kent, over 45 species of bird were recorded during a single visit in December 2023.

Church Services: Attendance

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what average weekly attendance was in each year since 1994.

Andrew Selous: The National Church Institutions first started collecting attendance data centrally in the autumn of 2000; as a result, it is not possible to publish data for the period 1994-1999. A methodological change also took place between 2000 and 2003 which means statistics for those years are not directly comparable with the data now collected. The data displayed below shows the longest period of comparable figures available, from 2003-2022. Adult average weekly attendanceChild average weekly attendanceAll age average weekly attendanceAdult average Sunday attendanceChild average Sunday attendanceAll age average Sunday attendanceAdult average school service attendanceChild average school service attendanceAll age average school service attendance2003905,000218,0001,126,000802,000154,000959,000n/an/an/a2004896,000220,0001,119,000789,000151,000942,000n/an/an/a2005898,000218,0001,119,000791,000147,000941,000n/an/an/a2006894,000217,0001,115,000786,000145,000935,000n/an/an/a2007888,000205,0001,097,000779,000137,000919,000n/an/an/a2008877,000215,0001,094,000768,000139,000910,000n/an/an/a2009867,000211,0001,082,000758,000134,000895,000n/an/an/a2010851,000208,0001,062,000741,000130,000874,000n/an/an/a2011840,000207,0001,050,000728,000127,000858,000n/an/an/a2012843,000202,0001,049,000733,000128,000864,000n/an/an/a2013836,000157,000994,000721,000124,000845,00023,000103,000126,0002014831,000144,000975,000711,000119,000830,00035,000113,000148,0002015819,000140,000959,000698,000115,000813,00040,000131,000171,0002016791,000132,000922,000671,000108,000780,00042,000139,000182,0002017767,000127,000895,000653,000104,000757,00046,000152,000198,0002018752,000120,000872,000635,00096,000730,00040,000137,000177,0002019734,000120,000854,000613,00094,000707,00041,000141,000182,0002020317,00028,000345,000273,00024,000298,000n/an/an/a2021531,00075,000605,000447,00062,000509,00018,00071,00089,0002022567,00087,000654,000477,00070,000547,00036,000128,000164,000 Attendance figures are collected from churches for the first 4 Sundays of October and in the following Monday-Saturday midweek periods - this exercise is referred to as the "October count”. Figures include attendance at baptisms, as these usually take place in service, but not attendance at weddings and funerals. Attendance at services for schools is NOT included in the average weekly and average Sunday attendance figures but is reported separately.In 2013, the question was changed to specifically ask about attendance at school services. Prior to 2013, it was apparent that some churches included such attendance in their reported figures while others did not. The change in question during this year resulted in a large change in the average weekly attendance from 2012 to 2013 and a more consistent practice across the church as a whole.

Church of England: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to help achieve net zero.

Andrew Selous: The Church Commissioners are committed to reducing the carbon intensity of their portfolio by 2025 and, as a member of the Asset Owners Alliance, reaching ‘Net Zero’ in the investment portfolio by 2050.The General Synod has set a target for the Church of England to become Net Zero by 2030. The National Church Institutions are supporting every diocese with a grant to grow capacity and employ staff to manage the work of achieving this net zero ambition. The Church Commissioners have committed funding of £30m for 2023-25 and £190m total for a 9-year programme from 2023-31.  Stage one will explore the best ways to decarbonise the diverse range of buildings and navigate planning and governance structures. The project will assess cathedrals and clergy housing, with demonstration churches that can act as showpieces of what is possible. There will be a special grant available from dioceses to enable churches to fund improvements to their energy efficiency.A second workstream supports schools in accessing public sector decarbonisation funds, and another stream of grants will match local fundraising in churches for net-zero carbon projects through the Buildings for Mission schemeThis will provide a clear picture of the kinds of projects that are effective in reducing emissions, ready for a scaled-up investment in the second 3-year periodRecent success stories include York Minster and the Chapel at Kings College, Cambridge, which have joined many other major churches and cathedrals across the country in installing new solar panels and renewable technologies, reducing their running costs and making them more sustainable buildings.

Christianity: Ceremonies

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many confirmations there were in each year since 1994.

Andrew Selous: The table below shows the number of confirmations conducted in the Church of England each year since 1994.   As the Established Church, every member of the public, whatever their belief, living within a parish in England has the right to access baptism, marriage and burial services of the Church of England as long as performing that service is lawful under Canon Law.   The detailed data on the number of baptism and confirmation services is published in the annual data ‘Statistics for Mission’.Post 2009 figures can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/statisticsformission2022_tables.xlsxPre-2009 figures can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/data-services/resources-publications-and-data#naYearNumber of confirmations199448,024199543,667199642,768199740,881199839,926199937,469200036,387200133,367200233,425200331,797200430,425200529,833200629,380200727,926200826,972200925,028201022,349201122,242201222,540201319,883201418,028201516,723201615,917201715,253201814,475201913,35520202,16520216,388202210,855

Church Schools: Hendon

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether he has made an assessment of the contribution of church schools in Hendon constituency.

Andrew Selous: Though the National Church Institutions are not responsible for the operation of individual schools, the Diocese of London has volunteered the following information, which I hope is useful.There are two Church of England schools in the Hendon Constituency.St Mary’s and St John’s educates more than 1,600 pupils. One quarter are on free school meals, which is higher than the Local Authority average. Pupils are making above-average progress at an 8-level attainment of 0.39 compared with the national average of -0.03.St Paul’s School Mill Hill educates 210 pupils. One fifth of pupils are in receipt of Free School Meals, in line with the Local Authority average. Pupils attainment is above-average; 84% attained the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths last summer compared to the national average of 60%.I commend the teachers and leadership teams in both schools for these achievements.The Church of England educates over one million children in its 4,700 schools across England. Church Schools are committed to the flourishing of children and deliver a rounded education that remains in high demand with parents. They serve all those in the community, whatever their faith or belief.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

White Fish: Monitoring

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many pollack otolith bones were collected by his Department in International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas area (a) VI and (b) VII in 2023.

Mark Spencer: Data is provided only for International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas Area VII. My department has not collected pollack otolith bones from Area VI. In 2023, 643 otolith bones were collected by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.

Fisheries: Imports

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that imported fisheries products are not produced through the use of (a) illegal, (b) unreported and (c) unregulated fishing practices.

Mark Spencer: Imports and direct landings of fish into the UK are required to be accompanied by catch certificates. This ensures traceability throughout the supply chain to mitigate the risk of the fish having been derived from illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing. The UK has powers to apply import restrictions to countries identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing. At present, the UK does not permit the import of fishery products from Comoros, Cambodia or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Import restrictions can also be implemented at vessel level. Any vessel that has been identified as associated with IUU fishing activities, can be placed on the UK’s IUU Vessel List meaning it is not eligible to import fishery products into the UK. Advice and guidance for importers of fish and fisheries products is available on GOV.UK.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Press

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what subscriptions to (a) newspapers, (b) magazines and (c) online journals his Department has paid for in each of the last three financial years.

Mark Spencer: The following is a combined list of subscriptions that the Defra Library and Communications have paid for over the last three financial years. Some are in print and some are online. Not everything on the list was purchased in all three years – subscriptions change on demand and to reflect usage. Information on any subscriptions from other team budgets is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs. Defra Library purchases magazines and journals for Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency and Natural England staff to support them in their role. The Communications team purchases newspapers for monitoring the media coverage of issues in Defra’s remit. Angling Times magazineEnvironmental FinanceLyell CollectionAnimal Health Research ReviewsEstates GazetteMaterials Recycling WorldArgus Fertilizer EuropeEthical ConsumerMicrobiology SocietyAvian PathologyExecutive Support magazineNew Zealand VeterinaryBioOneFarmers GuardianPlanning ResourceBird Study PackFarmers WeeklyPrivacy and Data ProtectionBloombergFinancial TimesProfessional UpdateBritish Archaeology magazineFishing News WeeklyResponsible InvestorBritish Poultry ScienceFreedom of Information JournalRoyal Forestry SocietyBritish Wildlife MagazineFresh ProduceSunday TimesConservation Land ManagementGeoheritageTelegraphDaily ExpressGoat Veterinary JournalThe EconomistDaily MailGuardianThe Grocer MagazineDaily MirrorHabitats Regulations AssessmentThe SunDaily TelegraphHarvard Business ReviewThe TimesDairy Industry NewsletterHorticulture WeekUK Livestock magazineDods People and MonitoringIVeterinary PathologyEconlitICES Journal of Marine ScienceWashington Trade DailyElsevier Freedom CollectioniNewsWater ReportEnds EuropeInside HousingWiley STM CollectionEnds ReportInsurance PostYorkshire PostEnds Waste & BioenergyNature.com Environment CompleteVeterinary Diagnostic Investigation

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to reply to the letters of 12 January and 14 February 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about e-collars.

Mark Spencer: A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued in due course. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member. The hon. Member’s constituent asks about the Government’s position on electronic shock collars, known as e-collars. I can confirm that the Government remains committed to introducing a ban on the use of e-collars. We will pursue new regulations to deliver this commitment on a revised timeline. The full reply to the hon. Member’s letters will explain the reasoning behind this position.